Means for making tubes of celluloid and the like



WWF/WR- l/.FA A210/cw,

[giraf s. A NEIDICH Filed Jan. 3, 1929 May 5, 1931.

MEANS FOR lvL/AKIIGl TUBES OF CELLULOID' AND THE LIKE Patented May 5, 1931 UNITED STATES lPATENT oil-"FICE SAMUEL A. NEIDICH, OF EDGEWATER PARK, NEW JERSEY MEANS FOR MAKING TUBES 0F GELLULOID AND THE LIKE Application led January 3,` 1929.k Serial No. 330,128.

vent. For instance, acetone is a suitable solvent for Celluloid and cellulose nitrate, and ethyl acetate, or la mixture of alcohol and ether for cellulose acetate.

It has been proposed to effect such rolling operation while the entire sheet of the cellulose product is maintained submerged in the solvent until it is all rolled. However, such a method of manufacture is extremely wasteful in that a large percentage of the sheet material is dissolved off into the solvent bath. As the Celluloid from which such articles are formedcosts as much as $2.50 per sheet (.010 X 20 X 50) it is obvious that such loss is very important as far as such raw material is concerned. Moreover, the cellulose product thus dissolved into the bath instantly and progressively deprives the latter of its initial eiiiciency, so that it can he used for not more than five minutes in making tubes at the rate of four per minute, and, then, must be renewed or purified to restore the efliciency required for the operation.

Therefore, the purpose and effect of this invention is to provide a method and means for making tubes of Celluloid and the like by rolling sheets of such material while maintaining the roll above the surface of the solvent bath, into which each sheet is initially dipped; the sheet being wound lon a mandrel, while pressed against a roller which is continually moistened with a minute quantity of the solvent; so as to minimize the loss of the sheet material by dissolution in the bath; the surplus solvent being caused to gravitate from the sheet being rolled, back into the bath receptacle, from which it may be removed and purified, either continuously or intermittently. ,f'

My invention includes 'the variousvnovel features of procedure and apparatus hereinafter more definitely specified.

In said drawing; F ig. I is a front elevation of a machine for forming cylindrical tubes by rolling a primarily plane sheet of the cellulose product.

Fig. II is a. vertical sectional View of said machine, taken on the line II, II and in the direction of the arrows indicated in F ig. I. F ig. III is a diagram of operatingmeans.

In said figures; 1 is the receptacle for the solvent, which may be withdrawn therefrom continuously or intermittently, thru the conduit 2. rIhe rock shaft 3 is mounted to oscillatein the bearing brackets l and 5 which are 65 mounted upon the base plate or table 6. Said rock' shaft has two arms 8 and 9 rigidly secured thereon. Said arm 8 has the bearing 10 for the shaft 11 of the tail stock 12 which is continually spring pressed to the right in Fig. I by the helical spring 13 encircling it, and is adapted to be Withdrawn to the left by the knob 15. Said arm 9 has the bearing 16, in coaxial relation with said bearing 10, and

for the rotary shaft 17 of the head stock 18, 75

which is provided with the gear wheel 20 by which it may be turned. Said head stock has the diametrical slot 21 adapted to rotatably engage the flattened end portion of a cylindrical mandrelr 22, the opposite end of which is mote from its mandrel is thus dipped into 90 the solvent first, before the winding operation.

Said rock shaft 3 has the rotor 25, conveniently a gear wheel, bywhich it may be rocked,

downwardly, to dip the mandrel 22 and the 95 portion of the sheet 24 attached thereto,.be neath the solvent 26 in said receptacle 1. Said rotor 25 is then limmediately returned to uplift said mandrel and sheet, and present said `gear 20 in mesh with the driving gear 28, as ,100

Itis to be understood that a Seindicated in Fig. II. Said gear 28 is mounted on the shaft 29, journaled in the bearing 30 on said bracket 5, and may be rotated by any convenient means, for instance, by a gear 31 upon a power shaft having such gears at intervals for operation of a series of such machines.

l/Yhen thus upturned, the portion of the sheet 24 upon the mandrel 22 is pressed against the idle roll 34 so as to tightly wind the remainderl of the sheet 24 upon said mandrel, as the latter is turned by the engagement of said gear 2O with the driving gear 28. Said roll 34 is mounted on the shaft 35 journaled in bearings 36 in said brackets 4 and 5 and, during such windingl operation, thev surface thereof is maintained moist with the minimum amount of solvent suiiicient to prevent sticking of said sheet upon the surface of said roll 34. Such solvent is conveniently supplied thru the conduit 38 which is perforated at 39.

I-Iowever, the effect of the winding operation described is to withdraw each sheet from the solvent as fast as it is rolled on its mandrel, instead of leaving the entire sheetJ submergedA in the solvent until it is all rolled, as heretofore.

Upon completion of each winding operation above contemplated; the rock shaft 3 and its attachments are turned to the position shown in full lines in Fig. II and the mandrel with the tube formed thereon removed by withdrawing the knob 15 toward the left in Fig. I another mandrel 22V with a sheet pendent' therefrom as indicated at 24 in Fig. I being substituted for the mandrel removed.

I'Iowever, the mechanism above described may, of course, be operated to initially submerge the sheet of cellulose product in a solvent and effect the winding operation thereof to form a tube, out of the solvent, as above contemplated, by means other than those above described, and it is desirable to have means to temporarily mechanical-ly detain the rock shaft 3 in the posi-tion shown in Fig. II,'to allow the operator free use of both hands to remove and insert the mandrels 22.

Therefore, I prefer to include in the apparatus such operating elements as are exemplified in Fig. III, wherein the gear sector 4l is fulcrumed at 42 in mesh with said rotor 25 and provided ywith the spring 43 to turn it clockwise. Said spring tends to return the shaft 3 to dip the mandrel into the solvent as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. II. However, I provide said lsector 4l with the iiexible connector 45 extending to the foot lever 46 which is fulcrumed at 47, whereby said sector may be turned counterclockwise by pressure ofthe operators foot, to press the mandrel 22 toward the pressure roll 34. However, I

`also provide the detent 49, which is conveniently a hook overhanging said foot lever 46,

so that the operator may, by a slight sidewise motion of said lever, engage it with said detent, to temporarily detain the-rock shaft 3 in the position shown in full lines in Fig. II. Altho I have shown a tension spring in Fig. III I may provide a torsion spring encircling the sh aft 3 to perform the same function.

Therefore, I do not desire to limit myself to the precise details of construction, arrangement, or procedure herein set forth, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the essential features of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim l.. Means for making tubes of Celluloid and the like from primarily-plane sheets 'of such material, comprising a rotary head stock having means to rotatably engage one end of a mandrel; a rotary tail stock having means to engage the opposite end of said mandrel; said tail stock being spring pressed toward said head stock to maintain a mandrel between them; but said tail stock being capable of axial movement away from said head stock to release Vsaid mandrel; a pressure roller mounted to rotate in parallel relation with thev common axis of said head and tail stocks;

means arranged to support said head and tail stocks, in such relation, including a pair of arms having bearings and rigidly connected with a rock shaft; whereby the axis of said stocks may be swung toward and away from said roller; means arranged to moisten the surface of said'pressure roller with the minimum quantity of a suitable solvent 0f Celluloid or the like, sulicient to preventadherence of said pressure roller to any such sheet being pressed against it, including a perforated pipe extending parallel with the axis of said roller above the latter.

2. Means for making tubes of Celluloid and the like from primarily plane sheets of such material, comprising a rotary head stock having means to rotatably engage one end of a mandrel; a rotary tail stock having means to engage the vopposite end of said mandrel; said tail stock being spring pressed toward said head stock to maintain a mandrel between them; but said tail stock being axially movable away from said head stock to release said mandrel; a pressure roller mounted to rotate in parallelfrelation with the` common axis of said head and tail stocks; and means arranged to support said head and tail stocks, inclu ding journal bearings for each, movable toward and away from the axis ofsaid roller; whereby such a sheet may be Awound upon said mandrel, under pressure against said roller, until a tube isv formed of the successive evolute convolutions of such'sheet adhering to each other. I

3. Apparatus as in claim 2; including means arranged to moisten the surface of said pressure roller with the minimum quantity Vof a solvent of celluloid and the like, lsufficient to prevent adherence of said pressure roller to the sheet being pressed against it.

4. Apparatus as in claim 2; including a gear on said head stock; and a driving gear mounted to rotate upon an aXis parallel With said pressure roller, so positioned that the gear on said head stock is in mesh with said driving gear, when said sheet on the mandrel is pressed against said roller; whereby said mandrel may be positively rotated during the operation of forming a tube.

5. Means for making tubes of Celluloid and the like from primarily plane sheets of such material, including a rotary mandrel having means engaging one end of such a sheet thereon; a rotary pressure roll against which said mandrel may be pressed during the operation of rolling said sheet; and means arranged to maintain the surface of said pressure roll moistened with the minimum amount of solvent of Celluloid and the like, during such rolling operation, including a conduit for such solvent above said roll.

6. Means for making tubes of Celluloid and the like from primarily plane sheets of such material, by Winding such sheets upon a rotary mandrel; including a container for a solvent of such material, a pressure roll above said container, a rock shaft carrying means adapted to engage such a rotary mandrel, and means adapted to turn said rock shaft to dip said mandrel into said solvent and to raise it against said pressure roll, including a spring tending to turn said rock shaft in one direction, with respect to said container and a flexible connector connected With a foot lever adapted to turn said rock shaft in the opposite direction, with respect to said container.

7. Apparatus as in claim 6; including a detent adapted to hold said rock shaft with the mandrel carried thereby suspended between said solvent and pressure roll; said foot lever being movable, laterally, to engage and disengage said detent, at the Will of the operator.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Burlington, New Jersey, this twenty-fourth day of December, 1928.

SAMUEL A. NEIDICH. 

